1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of medical devices and methods, and to the particular field of therapy.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many people find themselves bedridden for great lengths of time. In some cases, the person's muscles may atrophy. This can be the case with a person's legs and feet. For this reason, many health care facilities have therapists who help bedridden patients exercise while the patient remains in bed. The therapist helps the patient exercise certain muscles in a manner that ameliorates the effects of a long period of bed confinement.
Heretofore, a therapist was required to exercise each leg separately from the other leg. This is not efficient use of the therapist's time.
Therefore, there is a need for a means and a method for exercising a bedridden patient's feet that is efficient.
Therefore, there is a need for a means and a method for exercising a bedridden patient's legs that is efficient and will permit the exercise to be carried out while the patient is wearing shoes or lightweight sneakers.
Since most patient's feet will be different from the feet of other patients, any means and method used to conduct therapy that will permit the patient to retain his or her shoes in place must be amenable to accommodating different size shoes. This accommodation should not require a great deal of effort from the therapist, otherwise the purpose of the device to achieve efficiency may be vitiated.
Therefore, there is a need for a means and a method for exercising a bedridden patient's legs that is efficient and will permit the exercise to be carried out while the patient is wearing shoes and will efficiently accommodate shoes of varying sizes.
A therapist may wish to use one of his or her hands to help a patient or to steady himself or herself during the exercise. However, if both hands are required to manipulate an exercise device, this objective may be difficult to attain.
Therefore, there is a need for a therapy device that can make exercising a bedridden patient's leg more efficient while allowing a therapist to keep one hand free or exercise both legs at the same time.
Since all patients are slightly different and have different needs and comfort levels, a single device will not be efficient for use with all patients. Thus, it will be advantageous if a therapy device can be modified to meet the particular needs of an individual patient.
Therefore, there is a need for a therapy device that can make exercising a bedridden patient's foot more efficient and which can be customized to meet the needs of a particular patient.